Reflecting apparatus



T. J; KENNEDY.

REFLECTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION man mmzs. 1920.

Patented Jan. 11,1921.

ATTORNEYS type of automobile 1n such paratus comprising THOMAS J.KENNEDY, O1 WYNCO'IE, PENNSYLVANIA.

REFLEO'IIIG APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

Application filed Ianuai'y 2.8, 1920. Serial No. 854,833.

To all whom it man; concern:

a citizen of the United States residing at ontgomenv,

Wyncote in the county of State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Reflecting Apparatus, of which the following is a specification;

My invention relates to the general class of reflecting apparatus ordevices applicable to moving vehicles of any character, but particularlyto vehicles of the general type used on land, and also to boats, or, ifdesired, to flying machines.

These devices, technically known as periscopes, comprise givenarrangements of compound reflecting mirrors or kindred refiectlngsurfaces, and the particular object of my invention is a reflectingapparatus adapted to be applied, for instance, to any position withrelation to a top or cover when the vehicle is closed, or to a windshield or front when the vehicle is open,that the device presents itselfin a position in front of the driver or chauffeur who by looking into itis enabled to command a view of the road in the rear of his vehicle soas to be able tosteer it in such manner and direction as the necessitiesarising from an overtaking vehicle may require.

'My invention comprehends a reflecting apan assemblage of three mirrorswhich when in service are adapted to be opened or extended in a mannerhereinafter described and when not in service to be folded upon eachother, the particular object of making the apparatus a folding devicebeing to protect its reflecting surfaces or mirrors from the elementswhen the device is not in use.

For the urpose of" illustrating my invention,-I ave represented twotypes or embodiments of it which are at present pre ferred by me,because in practice they give useful and satisfactory results. It is tobe understood, however, that I do not confine myself to precisedimensions or details of the construction so long as it embodies myinvention in its broad sense.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 represents typical automobile ofthe sedan or limousine type, with my reflecting apparatus shozvn asapplied in operative position to the 1'00 0 in side elevation a.

Fig. 2 represents in perspective my appai-atus detached and also inoperative posi- 1011.

Fig. 8 represents a longitudinal, central, side, sectional elevation ofthe apparatus as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig, i represents in similar sidesectional elevation the apparatustypified in Figs. 2 and 3, with the mirrors in their folded or closedand non-operative position.

Fig. 5 represents a fragmentary top plan view of the apparatus as shownin Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 represents a modification of my apparatus and of its means forapplication. Fig. 7, represents a side elevation of a detached portion.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings 1 deslgnates the body of a typical automobileand 2 the inclosing roof or body cover. In the ,mode of applicationillustrated inthe first five figures of the drawmg, a preferablyquadrangular recess in the front part of the roof, conforming to theoutline of the mirror 5, is designated 3, and is so placed that it isessentially in front of the seat which the driver occupies so that hefaces a mirror, which makes it possible for him through the compoundarrangement of two other mirrors hereinafter described to view the roadin the rear of the vehicle.

Within the roof recess 3, which is preferably provided with a bindingedge frame 4:, and transversely of the longitudinal axis of the vehicle,I call the vertical mirror, and which in the operative position of thereflecting a paratus as an entirety, is frictionally or ot erwisetightly held transversely of the recess by pins or trunnions 6, which,while making it possible tofold said vertical mirror flatwise within therecess, also make possible its permanent placement in a vertical planewith relation to the vehicle.

In front of this vertical mirror 5 is what I call the rear-reflectingmirror 7, which is of about the same dimensions as the mirror 5, andwhich at itsupper edge is pivotally connected, preferably by. a pair ofcounterpart links 8, to the up r edge of said vertical mirror 5', whileat 1ts lower or forwardly extending edge said mirror 7 ,--or the framewhich carries it, because it is to be understood that each of the threemirrors is prefis mounted a mirror 5, which erably mounted in a suitableframe,-is hinged by a hinged connection 9 to the upper and forwardlyextending edge of another mirror, which, for distinction, I call thedrivers mirror 10, and which when the parts are in operative positionbears such angular relationship to the eyes of the driver as will enablehim to see an obieet in the rear The image of the object in the rear isreflected first upon the reflecting surface of the rear-reflectingmirror 7 ,-thence defiected to the forwardly facing reflecting surfaceof the vertical mirror 5,and thence again deflected to the rearwardlyfacing reflectin surface of said last-mentioned or driver s mirror.10,so as to cast the ultimate reflection within the view of the driver.

It will. therefore, be apparent that there are three reflections of anobject upon the road to the rear of the moving vehicle to which myapparatus is applied, and that in the angular relationship of the partswhen in operative position, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, theangles of incidence and reflection are necessarily such that the imagereceived upon the rear-reflecting mirror is transferred from it to thevertical mirror and from said vertical mirror to the drivers mirror,whence, of course, the object is re fiected within the range of thevision of the driver.

In order tightly to secure the drivers mirror 10 at the proper angularrelation with respect to the rear-reflecting mirror 7 and the erticalmirror 5, I pass through the preferably tubular hinged connection between the carrying frames of said two mirrors 7 and 10, a hinge pin 11,an end of which extending beyond the hinge knuckles, is threaded and hasapplied to it a locking thumb nut 12 to effect the desired tightening ofthe hinge knuckles and secure the retention of the mirrors referred to.

A ssurniug the normal position of the vertical mirror to be thatrepresented, or in a vertical plane, the links 8 which connect saidmirror with the rear-refiecting mirror 7, are naturally so proportionedas to impart to said mirror 7 the desired angular position withreference to the rear of the vehicle.

In order to effect the desired folding of the three mirrors into theassembled closed position which will protect their reflecting surfacesfrom the elements, all that it is necessary to do is, first, to turn thevertical mirror 5 about its trunnions 6, until it occupies thehorizontal position within the recess 3 in the roof which it isillustrated as occupying in Figs. 4 and 5.

Having, then, thus moved the vertical mirror into a horizontal plane, itwill be obvious that, through its links 8, when the grip of the thumbnut upon the hinge pin is eased, the rearreflecting mirror 7 will bebrought down upon said vertical mirror, the surfaces of the two mirrorsfacing each other.

It will be further obvious that whey this has been done, the driversmirror can be manually elevated about its hinge until its reflectingface lies fiat against the rear face of the vertical mirror thenoccupying a horizontal position, and that the thumb nut may then betightenedup, with the necessary result of retaining all three of themirrors in parallel horizontal lanes and in practical contact with eachot er.

In the modification represented in 6,

the rear reflecting mirror 7 and the driversmirror 10 are permanentlysecured at the desired angles within an inclosing case 13, which may beformed with a socket 14 extending rearwardly of the open rear of thecase, conveniently adapted to hold the vertical mirror.5; and furtheradapted either as illustrated in Fig. 6 to be slipped over upon the roofof the vehicle, or, if desired, to be supported by a vertical standard15 of the .wind shield or front face of the automobile.

Of course, in this modified application, it will be obviously impossibleto effect the folding of the mirrors upon each other because each ispermanently secured with relation to the inclosing casing.

In order to' protect the device from the effects of bad weather and theheat of the sun there are secured to the sides of the frame of themirror 7 curtains 16 pendant therefrom, one of which is shown in Fig. 7,the effect of which is evident.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A reflecting apparatus which comprises in combination, a verticalmirror the reflecting surface of which faces forwardly and which inoperative position is vertically disposed,-a rear reflecting mirror thereflecting surface of which faces rearwardly so as to receive itsreflection from the rear, and which at its upper edge is connected withthe upper edge of the vertical mirror so as to occupy an angularposition with relation thereto,-and a drivers mirror which at its upperedge is connected with the lower edge of the rear reflecting mirror andwhich faces rearwardly at an angle with reference to the reflectingsurface of said vertical mirror so as to cast its reflection within theview of the driver.

2. A reflecting apparatus, which comprises in combination,a carryingsurface formed with a recess,-a vertical mirror pivoted within saidrecess, the reflecting surface of which faces forwardly and which inoperative position is vertically disposed with respect to its recess,but in inoperative position is adapted to be placed horizontally withinsaid recess,-a rearreflecting mirror the reflecting surface of whichwhen in operative position faces rearwardly so as to receive itsreflection from the rear,--foldable connective devices between the upperhinged connection between the reanreflecting mirror and the driversmirror, whereby the connected assemblage of the three mirrors may whennot in. use be folded flat upon and with reference to each other and pwhen in use may be extended into operative position.

3.111 a reflecting apparatus of the character described and incombination,two mirrors the reflecting surfaces of which face in thesame direction and which are connected longitudinally by a hingedjoint,a mirror the reflecting surface of which faces those of the twoaforesaid mirrors, and which is connected by links to the upper part ofone of the aforesaid mirrors,-and a frame within which the foregoingthree mirrors are adapted to be folded.

4. A reflecting apparatus of the character described, in which arecombined,a normally vertically disposed mirror,-an upper normallyangularly disposed mirror,a lower normally angularly-disposed mirror,--ahinged connection between the two mirrors which are normallyangularly-disposed,--a link connection between the normally verticalmirror and the upper of the two angularly-disposed mirrors,-means forretaining said vertical mirror in vertical position,and a framing forsupporting the vertical mirror and the hinged connection between theother two mirrors.

5. The combination to form a foldable reflecting apparatus,of aforwardly facing,

normally vertical, mirror,two rearwardly facing, normallysingularly-disposed mirrors,a hinged connection between the tworearwardly facing mirrors, a fastening means for tightening said hingedconnection to retain the rearwardly facing mirrors in desiredpositions,-foldable link connections between the upper part of the upperof the two rearwardly facing mirrors and the upper part of the forwardlyfacing mirror,-and means for supporting the vertical mirror and thehinged connection between the other two mirrors in a common plane.

6. In a reflecting apparatus of the character described, the combinationwith a carrying frame, of three mirrors one a forwardly facing mirrorpivoted to each carrying frame,-the other two rearwardly facing mirrorshingedly connected to each other by a hinge supported upon said carryingframe,and a foldable union between the upper of the two hingedlyconnected mirrors and the vertical mirror.

THOMAS J. KENNEDY.

Witnesses:

JOHN A. WIEDERSHEIYM, N. BUSSINGER.

